Hospital or invalid bed



May 4,' 1943. G. N. MAs' 2,318,240

OSPITAL 0R mvann BED Filed Nov. 7, 1941 s' Sheets-Sheet 1 N 21 GBOWGNMM" G. N. MAS

HOSPITAL 0R INVALID BED May 4, 1943.

3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 7, 1941 GeorgeNMas,

May 4, 1943. MAS

HOSPITAL on INVALID BED Filed Nov. 7, 1941 s Sheets-Sheet s GeorgeNMas, mwz

Patented May 4, 1943 HOSPITAL OR INVALID BED George N. Mas, Washington, D. 0., assignor of one-half to Charles B. Lewis, Washington,

Application November 7, 1941, Serial No. 418,270

4 Claims. (Cl. -90) This invention relates to hospital or invalid beds, and has for its general object to provide a hospital or invalid bed embodying a practical toilet for the convenient use of the patient without any necessity on the part0! a, nurse or attendant of lifting or handling the patient, and also for convenient and easy servicing by a nurse or attendant.

According to the invention, the mattress of the bed includes a main section having a, recess therein opening through one side thereof, and. .a filler section for said recess slidable into the same to complete the mattress and slidable outwardly to provide in the mattress a toilet opening, and in this connection a special object of the invention is to provide a holder for a toilet receptacle and a connection between said holder and the mattress filler secton whereby outward .sliding movement of the filler section to provide .the toilet opening in the mattress moves said holder to dispose a toilet receptacle carried there- 4 by beneath and in alinement with said toilet opening, and whereby inward movement of said holder to complete the mattress moves said holder to a position adjacent to one side of the bed for the convenient and easy removal therefrom and replacement therein of the toilet receptacle.

Another special object of the invention is to provide a hospital or invalid bed having the features mentioned'and which includes simple, practical means for yieldably suspending the mattress and for mounting the mattress filler section and the toilet receptacle holder upon the mattress suspension means for the movements mentioned.

Another special object of the invention is to provide a hospital or invalid bed having the features mentioned and which is of simple, practical construction and of comparatively low production cost.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, which will become more fully apparent as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in a hospital or invalid bed embodying the novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and defined in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein like characters of reference denote corresponding parts in the difierent views:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a hospital or inavlid bed constructed in accordance with one practical embodiment of the invention and showing the mattress filler section in its outwardly disposed position afiording a toilet opening in the mattress.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the mattress support.

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the mattress ,of the coil spring supports for the plate of th mattress support.

Figure 7 is a transverse sectional view illustrating an alternative form of spring support for the plate of the mattress support; and

Figure 8 is a plan view of a sanitary shield for use in the toilet opening of the mattress.

Referring to the drawings in detail, it will be observed that the present bed is, generally speaking, of conventional form in that it includes a frame, designated generally as A, composed of head and foot sections designated as In and ii, respectively, and side rails, designated as l2, con-. necting said head and foot sections; a spring or mattress support mounted on said frame and designated generally as .B, and a mattress supported by said support B and designated generally as C. a

The end sections [0 and II may be of the construction shown or of any other suitable or preferred construction, and the side rails 12 may be either permanently or detachably secured to said end sections in any suitable manner. Moreover, said side rails may be of any suitable form but preferablyare-of angle-iron form having vertically disposed .outer flanges and horizontally disposed lower flanges extending inwardly from .said outer flanges.

The mattress support B comprises head and foot pairs of uprights designated as l3 and M, respectively; head and foot cross bars designated as i5 and I6, respectively, connecting the upper ends of the uprights I 3 and I4, respectively, and a stiff, fiat plate of metal or any 1 other suitable material, designated as ll, of any suitable width and of a length corresponding approximately .to the width of the bed, located at a suitable. point between the cross bars i5 and lGand connected at its sides with said cross bars by spring elements of any suitable form,

side rails in any suitable manner, whereby the mattress support is yieldably supported upon the frame A.

. Preferably, but not necessarily, yieldable means in addition to the "spring" elements I! is provided to assist said "spring" elements in yieldably supporting the plate i1, and while said additional yieldable supporting means may be of any preferred form, one suitable form thereof comprises any suitable number of vertically disposed coil springs 23 interposed between said plate and cross members 2i connecting the side rails i2 of the frame A In this connection, in order to restrain the plate i1 against undesirable superficial shifting movements and to prevent undesirable "bud-sling or bowing of the coil springs 23, rods 22, of diameters to closely fit within said coil springs, are fastened at their upper ends to the plate I1 and extend downwardly from said plate through said springs and at their lower ends are slidably engaged in openings in the cross members 2i and also in alined openings in the horizontal flanges of the frame side rails l2 wherever certain of said springs 23 overlie said side rails. Alternatively,

said additional yieldable supporting means for the plate i1 may have the form of leaf springs 23 of any suitable design interposed between said plate and the cross members 2! as illustrated, for example, in Fig. 7 of the drawings.

Provided in the plate l1 at any suitable point, but preferably centrally or approximately centrally thereof, is a toilet opening 24, while provided on the top and on the bottom of said plate are pairs of parallel track or guide members 23 and 26, respectively, the former or top pair of which extend from opposite sides of said toilet opening any suitable distance toward one end of. said plate; 1. e., toward one side of the bed,

and the latter or lower pair of which likewise extend from opposite sides of said toilet opening any suitable distance toward the other end of said plate or, in other words, toward the other side of the bed.

Disposed upon the top of the plate l1 and channels provided by the track members 23. Thus, the holder 21 is mounted upon the plate II for inward and outward sliding movement and is held against upward movement relative said plate.

The track members 23 also may be of any suitable form and the holder 23 may be of any suitable construction and may be engaged with said track members and thereby suspended from the plate l1 foninward and outward sliding movement in any suitable manner, but preferabLv said track members 23 are of U-shape in cross section to provide upwardly and inwardly opening channels, and preferably the holder 23 is of open-top, box-like form including a bottom wall 32, an inner end wall 33, and side walls 34 which, at their tops, are flanged outwardly and downwardly and engaged in the channels of the track members 23'. At its outer end, the holder 23 is open and may or may not be provided with a door 33, as desired, but if it is not provided with a door it preferably is provided with suitable means, such for example as a flange rising a short distance from the outer end of the bottom wall 32,-to hold a toilet receptacle 33 disposed therein against accidentally sliding through the open outer end thereof.

The mattress C rests as usual upon the support B and comprises a main section, designated as 31, and a separate filler section designated as 33, the main section 31 having therein a transverse recess 33 opening through one side thereof and alined with the slideway between the track members 25 and having its inner end portion alined with the toilet opening 24 in the plate l1, and the filler section 33 being of a size and shape to fill said recess 33 and being disposed in the holder 21 for inward and outward sliding movement therewith into and from said recess. Said mattress sections 31 and 33 may be of any desired construction and when the filler section 33 is disposed in the recess 33 of the main section 31 the mattress is completed. On the other hand, by sliding the filler section 33v outwardly a suitable distance relative to the main section 31, a toilet opening is provided in the mattress in alignment with the toilet opening 24 in the plate i1.

In accordance with the invention the holder 21 for the mattress filler section 33 and the holder 23 for the toilet receptacle 36 are suitably connected together so that when the holder 21 is slid outwardly to shift the mattress filler section 33 outwardly to provide the toilet opening in the mounted by means of the top pair of track mem-- bers 23 for inward and outward sliding movement along the slideway defined by said top pair of track members 25, is a filler mattress section holder 21, while mounted by means of the lower pair of track members 23 upon the underside of said plate l1 forinward and outward sliding movement along the slideway provided by said lower pair of track members 23 is a toilet receptacle holder 23.

The track members 25 may be of any suitable form and the holder 21 may be of any suitable construction and may be slidably engaged with said track members in any suitable manner, but preferably said track members are of inverted U-shape in cross section to define downwardly and inwardly opening channels, and preferably the holder 21 is in the form of an open-top pan including a. bottom wall 29, end walls 33 andside walls :1 which are slidably disposed in the mattress, the holder 23 is slid inwardly to dispose the toilet receptacle 33 in underlying relationship to and in alinement with said toilet opening, and when the holder 21 is slid inwardly to shift the mattress filler section 33 to its position filling the recess 33, the holder 23 is slid outwardly to a position adjacent to the related side of the bed where it is readily accessible for convenient and easy removal and replacement of the toilet receptacle 36 through the open outer end thereof.

Any suitable connection for the purpose stated may be provided between the holders 21 and 23, but one suitable connection is illustrated in the drawings and by way of example as comprising a pair of rods 43 suitably connected to the front end wall 33 of the holder 21 and extending downwardly and inwardly from said wall 33 beneath the plate l1 and suitably connected to the inner end wall of the holder 23.

At the outer end of the holder 21 is a handle 4| which may be comprised by the medial portion of a single length of material from which the rods 4. are formed, as shown, or which may be entirely separate from said rods which, if desired, may be separate from each other. On theother hand, only a single rod or any plurality of rods other than two may be employed in lieu of the pair of rods 40.

At 42 is designated a tray which may be mounted on one of the side rails [2 at any suitable point and in any suitable manner for vertical and horizontal adjustments, while at 43 and 44 are designated an article holder and a mirror or chart holder which may be mounted as shown upon the head and the foot sections of the bed for the convenience of the patient.

As will be apparent from the foregoing, the mattress of the present bedis well and yieldably supported and is complete when the filler section 38 is disposed in filling relationship to the recess 39, while on the otherhand. when it is desired to provide the toilet opening in the mattress for the convenience of the patient without any necessity of burdensome handling of the patient, this may readily be done simply by shifting the filler section 38 outwardly. In this connection and to protect the mattress, sanitary sheets 45 of paper or other suitable material, may be provided and may be formed as illustrated in Fig. 8 of the drawings to be placed in the toilet opening of the mattress as shown in Fig. of the drawings, while in order to limit outward sliding movement of the filler section 38 of the mattress, I any suitable means may be provided, such for example, as a Moreover, the plate I! may be provided with suitable upstanding flange means 41 -for engagement with the wall defining the inner end of the recess 38 in the main mattress section to assist in holding the main mattress section properly positioned on its support B, but the provision oi said flange means is, or course, optional.

Without further description it is thought that the features and advantages of the invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and it will of course be understood that changes in the form, proportion and minor details of construction may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit of the invention and scope of the appended claims.

- I claim:

1. An invalid bed comprising supporting means for a mattress composed of a main section having therein a recess opening through a side thereofand a filler section for said recess, said supporting means having a toilet opening therein with which the inner end portion of therecess in the main mattress section is to be alined, a holder for the mattress filler section mounted on the upper side of said mattress supporting means for horizontal sliding movement transversely of the bed between an inner position in which it covers said toilet opening and disposes the mattress filler section in filling relationship to the recess in the main mattress section and an outer position in which it uncovers said toilet opening and disposes the inner end of said mattress filler section outwardly with respect to the inner end of the recess in the main mattress section to provide in the mattress an opening alined with said toilet opening, a holder for a toilet receptacle mounted on the under side of said mattress supporting means for horizontal sliding movement transversely of the bed between an inner position in which a toilet receptacle held therein is disposed beneath said toilet opening and an outer position in which it is disposed adjacent toa side of the bed for convenient removal therefrom and replacement therein of a toilet receptacle, and a connection between said filler section holder and said toilet receptacle holder whereby said toilet receptacle holder is slid to its outer position in response to sliding of said filler section holder to its inner position and is slid to its inner position in response to sliding of said filler section holder ,to its outer position.

2. An invalid bed as set forth in claim 1 in which the mattress supporting means is yieldable and includes a stifi flat plate having the toilet opening therein, and in which said plate is provided with track means mounting the filler section holder and thetoilet receptacle holder thereon for sliding movement.

3. An invalid'bed as set forth" in claim 1 in which the connection 'between the filler section holder and the toilet receptacle holder comprises a rod extending beneath the mattress supporting means and joined at its outer end toan outer end portion of the filler section holder and at its inner end to said toilet receptacle holder.

4. An invalid bed as set forth in claim 1 in which the mattress supporting means includes a still flat plate having the toilet' opening therein, I in which the bed frame includes side and end rails and cross members extending between said side rails beneath said plate, in which the mattress supporting means is yieldably suspended from said end rails, and in which springs are interposed between said cross members and said plate to assist in yieldably supporting said plate.

GEORGE N. MAS. 

